See You Later Aches and Pains, I Have a Koala Mattress Now

As someone who is 6-foot-4, I know a thing or two about back pain. That also means that I rarely ever fit properly onto a bed, so I find myself contorting my body to stop my limbs from hanging over the edge. That’s why I’ve always been intrigued by Koala‘s fairly well-received range of mattresses, and learning if they can help improve my sleep quality.

Friends have long praised their Koala mattresses for improving their level of comfort and benefiting their sleep schedules. But, as a stubborn person, I was a little sceptical of how much I would like it.

Eventually, however, I was fortunate enough to have Koala send me its The Koala Mattress to review so I could see what all the hype is about.

The importance of young people investing in a quality mattress

Listen, I know many of us young people don’t really care much about mattress quality, especially when we see the price tags some of them carry. All we care about is that it’s cheap and we can sleep on it.

I was definitely that person, which is probably why I already have back and hip pain. But now I’ve slept with a Koala mattress, I can’t stress how important it is for young people to invest in a quality mattress.

We hear all the time that if we take care of our bodies in our 20s and 30s, we will run into fewer problems later in life. So why do we ignore our bodies when it comes to our sleep?

Rajkumar Dasgupta, MD, told Healthline that getting sufficient sleep is one of the three pillars of a healthy lifestyle. The other two are good nutrition and regular exercise.

Having a mattress that doesn’t support your ability to gain sufficient sleep isn’t going to help you out in the long run. It’s important we, as young people, take care of our sleep schedules and invest in a good quality mattress that will last us a good few years.

So, with that considered, here’s a look at my time with The Koala Mattress.

Real Life Reviews: The Koala Mattress

Unpacking the mattress

The first thing I took note of when my Koala mattress arrived was that it came in a box.

This is part of the massive appeal that Koala has. Who would want to haul around a giant mattress? No one, that’s who.

It meant that all I had to do was carry a box (albeit somewhat heavy) up the many stairs of my apartment building.

Imagine having to try to manoeuvre a whole mattress upstairs and into a tight hallway. A nightmare I wish to never experience.

In addition to the Koala mattress being in super convenient packaging, it’s also super easy to set up.

All I had to do was unfurl the mattress, take it out of its packaging and let it inflate. You do have to unzip the top layer of the mattress just to let it fully breathe and expand.

Hot tip for you: although you can lay on the Koala mattress one hour after you’ve taken it out of the packaging, you should probably let it rise throughout the day. I suggest opening it in the morning and going about your business so when you come back at night, it’ll be ready to sleep on.

Also, my Koala mattress came with a little stuffed toy (a koala, obviously) which was a cute little surprise.

The verdict

I’ve had my Koala mattress for just over a month now and I really have nothing bad to say about it. I truly haven’t been as comfortable in my sleep in such a long time.

The first thing I’ll say is that my back pain has eased significantly.

Usually, I’ll wake up in the morning with some sort of pain in my lower back or in my shoulder blades, well, just my whole back really.

I’ve also noticed that my hips aren’t as rigid and stiff as they usually are when I wake up. When I eventually get out of bed and do my morning stretches, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t feel like I’m grinding two concrete blocks together.

I’m no doctor and this is just personal experience, but I am finding the mattress very comfortable to rest on.

While I can’t say that a Koala mattress will solve all of your pains, because it won’t, I can safely say that I sleep a lot more easily and don’t feel the need to wring my body out like a wet towel every morning.

What I think helps with this is Koala’s firmness adjustment. Basically, there is an upper layer that you can flip to determine how firm you want your mattress to be. I thought that was pretty neat and if in another month’s time, I find it too firm, I can just flip it to the softer side.

Something else I noticed while sleeping on the Koala mattress is that I can fall asleep a lot quicker than usual.

I’m someone who struggles to fall asleep and, as a result, I have a pretty shit sleep schedule. I’m talking less than 6 hours a night (I know, not good). But it seems that as soon as I get settled into bed on the Koala mattress, it doesn’t take me as long to doze off. I would say this has to do with how comfortable the Koala mattress is and how my body sinks (supportively) into it.

One thing I will say, however, is that I think the mattress is just a little bit smaller in size than other doubles I’ve used in the past.

While that might not be a problem for the average height person but remember, I’m 6-foot-4. Maybe I’m always destined to have my feet hanging over the edge of mattresses, who knows?

If you loved this Koala mattress review, you’ll probably also love our review of Koala’s office furniture or even their dining table.